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Analyst Will Green of Stephens Inc. says in the current natural gas environment, it is important to be mindful of balance sheets. With that in mind, he believes Range Resources Corp. (RRC) is well-positioned over the long term.
“It’s a company that has added value in a large way over the last several years, grown its EBITDA significantly, grown its production significantly despite dealing with lower natural gas prices,” Green said.
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Green says that Range Resources has learned to cope with struggles in the natural gas sector in a cost-effective manner. While it’s been impacted by lower price trends, Green says Range Resources is a solid long-term holding...more

Senior Analyst Daniel Katzenberg of Robert W. Baird & Co. says Whiting Petroleum Corp (WLL) is a stock investors should keep an eye on, despite its underperformance through the downturn.
“The Bakken names have been hit the hardest. Whiting is one of my weakest performing names through this downturn. Because the Bakken is a higher-cost basin relative to other leading oil shales; stocks with exposure here typically underperform when crude prices decline,” Katzenberg said.
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Katzenberg says Whiting took on additional debt when it acquired Kodiak Oil and Gas last year, which created concern from investors...more

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Analyst Brady Gailey says he is getting more positive on Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (CFR) despite the company’s exposure to energy. He currently has a “market perform” rating on the stock, but says he likes the outlook for Frost over the next several years.
“Their stock has traded down with oil, and they are one of the most conservative energy lenders in the state of Texas,” Gailey says. “They have been in the business over a century. They were one of the only banks that survived the 1980s.”
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Gailey says another positive for Frost/Cullen is its strong dividend yield...more

Brady Gailey, Analyst with Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Inc., says Hilltop Holdings Inc. (HTH) is one of his favorite stocks this year. One positive catalyst he sees for the company is that it is likely to exit the P&C insurance business.
“They have a more complicated business model. Their business is part commercial bank, part mortgage bank, part investment bank, and then they have a small P&C insurance company,” Gailey says. “I think that they will likely sell their P&C insurance company and focus more on the bank this year.”
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Currently, Hilltop trades between 10 to 11 times earnings...more

Ben Kallo, Analyst with Robert W. Baird & Co., says First Solar, Inc. (FSLR) remains his top pick in spite of negative sentiment around the stock. He says it is a contrarian call, but that investors should remember that First Solar is one of the leaders in the solar industry.
“First Solar arguably has the strongest balance sheet in the industry, which provides a lot of flexibility in their growth plans,” Kallo says. “In underlying the business, First Solar has a differentiated technology which I think will help it in its growth plans, not in 2015, but on into 2016 and 2017 and beyond.”
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Robert W. Baird & Co. Analyst Ben Kallo says he expects to see growth return to Tesla Motor Inc’s (TSLA) story in China. He says weakened demand in China has had an impact on the stock price in the short term, but he doesn’t expect the effect to continue.
“In the short term, I think obviously it’s had an impact on the stock price for Tesla, and that is really the first time they, in a very loud way with Elon at the Detroit Auto Show, have brought it up,” Kallo says. “Tesla had spoken about exploding demand. Now there had been other regions where their similar type of demand characteristics have occurred, particularly in some parts of Northern Europe — also Germany was slower to develop than Tesla had originally expected — but because China is such a big market, and because Elon had talked about China being a major part of the growth story, that it reached into a lot of negative attention from investors...more

Andy Pusateri, Analyst with Edward Jones, says Dominion Resources, Inc. (D) is one of his favorite utility stocks for 2015. He says the stock is trading near all-time highs and at a peak multiple, but that it is also poised for above-average earnings growth based a couple of factors.
“One is regulated utility investments. So utilities are allowed to earn regulated returns on the investment that they are making on the equity component of that investment,” Pusateri explains. “Dominion has a lot of opportunity to make investment, and generation, electric transformation and gas distribution, so I think that’s good, regulated, safe, visible growth that investors like...more

Edward Jones Analyst Andy Pusateri has a “sell” rating on Southern Co (SO). He says the stock’s valuation is high, and that the company has more risk relative to the traditional growth trajectory of most regulated utilities because of two new builds the company has underway.
“One is a clean coal plant in Mississippi that’s nearing completion, and they have had a lot of issues with cost overruns as well as time delays in constructing that plant,” Pusateri says. “They are to the point there where they have kind of hurt some regulatory relationships in Mississippi, and also the customers are done paying for any cost over, so the shareholders are going to have to eat any additional problems...more

Edward Jones Analyst Andy Pusateri has a “sell” rating on Wisconsin Energy Corp (WEC). He says he does not see a fundamental flaw with the company, management or strategy.
“When I look at Wisconsin Energy, the issue is really valuation, and utilities in general obviously have been on a good run and are trading near an all-time high,” Pusateri says. “Wisconsin Energy is in the same boat; if you look at our 2015 estimate, it’s trading at nearly 20 times earnings. That’s very high for a utility in general, especially utility with a growth outlook like we see for Wisconsin Energy.”
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Entergy Corporation (ETR) CFO Andrew Marsh says the company has a lot of infrastructure needs in terms of strengthening reliability and efficiency and lowering costs for customers. Specifically, he says management anticipates a need for an additional 2,400 to 3,000 megawatts of incremental generation.
“We have an industrial renaissance going on in the southern part of our service territory, mainly along the coast in Louisiana and Texas,” Marsh says. “It may be a matter of timing; demand may slow if the industrial renaissance does, and if this happens, it is most likely at the end of the decade.”
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Mitchell Roth, President of Bourbon Brothers Holding Corporation (RIBS), a holding company with two restaurant concepts, is looking to move open a fast-casual version of its Southern Hospitality brand. Southern Hospitality was originally created in NYC by Eytan Sugarman and Justin Timberlake.
“We thought this was particularly important because, in my opinion, fast casual is where the industry is going. Fast casual outpaced casual dining five to one in 2013, and to a large degree, I think that the reason for that is because of the evolution of consumer taste and preferences in the restaurant space. You are seeing Millennials, who are a very powerful generation at this point, really impacting the restaurant space,” Roth said...more

RBC Capital Markets Analyst Leo Mariani says Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD) is one stock that is well-positioned during the current weak oil price environment. It operates in the Permian Basin and Eagle Ford Shale, which Mariani says are two of the lowest-cost plays in the U.S.
“The company also has a very strong balance sheet as well, one of the best in the industry, and they have a very strong hedge book,” Mariani says. “So really, the low prices that we’ve seen over the past several months haven’t impacted them as much with their hedge book as other companies.”
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Mariani says he expects Pioneer to be able to get some production growth during the weak price environment in 2015...more

Bernard Colson, Managing Director and Senior Analyst for MLPs at Oppenheimer & Co., says EQT Midstream Partners LP (EQM) is one of his top stock picks for 2015. He believes the company is positioned to continue strong growth.
“Number one, they have no commodity price exposure in a direct way. All of their contracts are fee-based contracts,” Colson says. “Number two, they’re leveraged in kind of a manageable way. I mean, every MLP is going to have some debt. You’re not going to have any MLPs that don’t have any debt, but they have a manageable level of debt.”
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In addition, Colson says EQT has a significant cash flow cushion and a strong, supportive parent company, both of which make the stock a defensive investment...more

Oswald Clint, Analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., says Total SA (ADR) (TOT) is one of his favorite names in the oil & gas sector. He likes the French integrated oil company for a number of reasons and says it peaked in terms of its investment in 2013.
“So the capital requirements of this business are declining, and ultimately we believe project execution is good, project quality is high, and we believe cash flow strength will also be very strong over the next couple of years, and I think that’s what drives our confidence in this particular name,” Clint says.
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Total has historically had better returns relative to other integrated oil & gas companies, Clint says...more

Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. Analyst Oswald Clint recently upgraded Royal Dutch Shell plc (ADR) (RDS.A) to an “outperform” rating. He says his upgrade was based in part on Shell’s decision to reduce spending on unconventional shale resources in North America.
“I guess we watched a lot of money being spent to the tune of $26 billion, and we weren’t quite sure that the results from that expenditure would equal growth, higher returns, or even returns that match the returns of their North American business, which has been 20% return on capital for quite a period of time,” Clint says. “We felt it was too much of a move in the wrong direction and it would dilute the returns from a strong business line, and that’s what got us cautious on the stock through 2012, 2013 and some part of 2014...morePage 1 | Next 15 | Page 112

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